


The Renaissance of Loki

by Thaliel (Alodia)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Not Canon Compliant, Post end game, Timey-Wimey
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:41:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29312028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alodia/pseuds/Thaliel
Summary: “Who are you?” Loki snarled.“I’m Darcy. Lewis.”“Why are you here?”“Well, no one trusts you to behave, and since no one can reach your brother, they want me to watch over you. For some reason.”“Why you?”“Because, frankly, you hurt everyone else’s feelings.”“But not yours?”“Nope. I’m immune to you.”
Relationships: Darcy Lewis & Loki, Darcy Lewis/Loki
Comments: 22
Kudos: 144





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have written this pre-Loki coming out but post-WandaVision Darcy coming back. So a lot of this will likely become extra wrong once Loki drops, so I’m gonna slap a big old “not canon compliant” tag on this to start with. 
> 
> My shipping heart just could not be stopped. XD It’s been years, but apparently, the TaserTricks in my heart never stopped being there lol. The update schedule for this one is more casual than my usual, I’m aiming for 2x a month ish, so please make sure to bookmark or sub for notifs. <3 I’ll also post on twitter when it’s updated as well!

S.W.O.R.D. wasn’t too bad, as far as employers went. 

At least, Darcy thought so. It was better than spending endless hours on a Ph.D. thesis, anyway. She’d be pretty damn happy if she never had to write another 15-page bibliography again in her life. 

After her assistance with the whole “Wanda is actually making this TV show thing” debacle, S.W.O.R.D. brought her back because, well, how many astrophysicists had this much experience with superheroes? The answer was none. Except for her, of course. 

“This is fuckin’ weird,” she muttered, her eyes fixed on a monitor in front of her. 

She was again watching levels of CMBR, being broadcast to her from a network of EMF readers and spectrometers set up at S.W.O.R.D. checkpoints all over the US. That data was compiled with data from several universities and government research institutions that already studied the freaky old radiation so she had almost complete coverage of the US. 

This Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation was the most reliable indicator that there was something…  _ other  _ going on, and she was determined not to miss a single thing. 

CMBR followed superheroes everywhere they went. It was  _ especially  _ prominent around people like Thor and Valkyrie. Those Asgardians were practically swimming in CMBR, even more than Wanda, which was rather fortunate for her. 

Darcy was counting on those elevated CMBR levels. She needed them if she was going to locate S.W.O.R.D.’s newest living weapon on their watch list: Loki. 

A shiver went up her back at the reminder, and she once again glanced at her strange reading. 

Normally, the level of CMBR in any one area peaked at 160.4 GHz in frequency, corresponding to a wavelength of 1.9 mm. And that was  _ the peak.  _ These readings, however, were stronger, clearer. Like it wasn’t an echo of some long-ago big bang, but a small piece of it walking among us. 

Quickly, she checked the known whereabouts of both Thor and Valkyrie. 

Both were presumed off-planet. 

_ This had to be their guy.  _

Picking up her walkie talkie, she said, “Hey, uh, guys? I think I found him.”

A voice crackled on the other end, “I’ll call SHIELD.” 

💚💥💚💥💚💥💚💥💚

Agent Woo sipped his coffee, confused eyes on the graphs. 

“So… That’s the radiation a god produces?” 

She nodded, “Yup. Pretty much.” 

“And it’s not dangerous?” 

“Well, no.” She took a sip of her own coffee. “The radiation isn’t anyway. Loki definitely is.” 

“Huh.” Have you met him? 

“Well… No. But I’ve like, met his brother and stuff.” 

Jimmy lit up, “You’ve met Thor?!” 

“Yes, I have. I even tased him.” 

_ “You tased Thor?”  _

“Well, he was acting all crazy!! He wasn’t  _ the  _ Thor then, he was just some weird dude!” 

“Wow,” Jimmy nodded his head. “That’s something. You’re probably like, the only person on the planet who’s tased a god.” 

“Well, if we see Loki, maybe I’ll fix that.” 

“I’d like to see that,” Jimmy laughed. “Darcy versus Loki, the showdown of the century.” 

She flipped her hair behind her shoulder. “He wouldn’t stand a chance.” 

💚💥💚💥💚💥💚💥💚

The CMBR spike was actually much closer than she thought it would be. When he’d disappeared after decimating most of Manhatten, there had been the world’s largest manhunt for the intergalactic criminal. 

Turns out, he was in rural Indiana, just 10 minutes from the border of Ohio. The radiation was picked up on a local university’s EMF reader housed in their geology department. They didn’t know what it meant, but Darcy sure did. 

S.W.O.R.D. and S.H.I.E.L.D. both dispatched teams to comb the area, setting up camp in the middle of a cornfield, and fanning out from there. 

A ground search didn’t turn over the hiding place of the god, so Jimmy drove Darcy there to suss out his location in person. Which was nerve-wracking, to say the least. The last thing she wanted was to be alone with someone who, probably, would kill her, but whatever. They were paying her, and Jimmy promised not to leave her alone. 

Plus, she packed her taser. 

One wrong move from the helmeted weirdo god and she’d blast him with some friendly voltage to put him back in his place. 

It was dark when they crossed into Ohio from Pennsylvania, and by the time they reached Indiana, it was already deep into the night. 

They pulled up to the tent around 1 AM, and the moment they parked, a woman walked up to their window.

“I’m Maria Hill,” she told them, voice clipped. 

“Oh,” Darcy blinked at her. “Hey! I’ve heard of you.” 

Maria smiled a small smile, and then briefed them, “We’ve searched the area in a 3-mile radius. Nothing. We confirmed using on-site equipment that the CMBR  _ is  _ coming from…” She waved behind her. “Somewhere out there, but we’ve not seen head nor tail of Loki.” 

“Okay. Uh… Do you think he’s invisible or something?” 

“Might be.” Maria paused and then asked Darcy, “We think… he has the tesseract and the scepter.” 

“What?” Darcy asked voice hitched high. “No.” 

Jimmy was just confused, “Uhh… Tesseract?” 

Darcy waved her hand at him, quieting him. 

“The tesseract was destroyed. Thanos and stuff, remember?” 

“I know,” Maria conceded. “It shouldn’t be possible but… I can feel it. This thing, it killed my friend, once. I’ve seen it up close and personal. It has an energy that’s just…” 

“Evil?” Darcy supplied. 

Maria barked a laugh, “Yes. Evil.” 

Darcy waved at Agent Hill, shooing her away from the door. Then, she hopped out, EMF reader in hand. 

“Guess we better find this sucker, then.” 

Jimmy scrambled out of the vehicle after switching it off, “I’ll grab some snacks.”

“Who is this?” Maria asked Darcy. 

“Oh, this is Jimmy. He’s like FBI turned S.W.O.R.D. Good dude. You’ll like him.” 

Maria frowned, and Jimmy beamed back at her. 

💚💥💚💥💚💥💚💥💚

Maria stayed with them as they searched. She insisted that command would be fine without her, despite the fact that she was the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. 

“Are you sure?” Darcy asked, her eyes intent on the EMF reader. 

“Yes,” Maria said, eyes also locked on the small screen. 

“I thought S.H.I.E.L.D. kinda died. You know. The whole snake greek thing.” 

“H.Y.D.R.A.?” 

“That’s the one.” 

Jimmy blinked between them, “This whole thing really needs less acronyms.” 

Maria smiled, “I agree.” 

Darcy rolled her eyes, “Well, it’s not like I named them.” 

“If you had, they’ll be called something like  _ Assholes with A Mission  _ and  _ We’re the Good Guys.”  _

Laughing, Maria guided Darcy around a bump in the ground, “At least those are more fun to say.” 

“True!” Jimmy said. “We should start a petition, get them changed officially.” 

Darcy’s full concentration was on the EMF reader. 

“I’m sure it’ll go over well,” Maria said. “Organizations with Acronyms for Names are notoriously good-humored.” 

“That’s an initialism right there,” Jimmy pointed out. “O.A.N.”

“We could be like the UN,” she said. “O.A.N. Sometimes we cause problems, and sometimes we fix them!” 

“A sensible motto.” 

The needle on the EMF reader jumped. 

“It makes us all sound  _ very  _ trustworthy,” Jimmy said, his flashlight sweeping before them. 

“Indeed,” Maria mused. “I’m sure the public will have no problem entrusting their safety to us.” 

“Of course—” 

“SHHH!” Darcy said, loudly. 

Her eyes were wide and trained on the EMF reader, the needle going absolutely haywire. 

“He’s here,” Darcy said. “Somewhere.” 

Jimmy looked around, “Maybe he’s in the corn?” 

Maria did a full 180, sharp eyes peering out into the night. 

“No,” Darcy clarified. “It’s not that, it’s—”

Before she could finish, there was a bright blue flash, and at her feet, laid out on his back unconscious, was Loki. 

“There he is!” Darcy cried triumphantly. 

In his hand he held the tesseract, glowing brightly. 

Jimmy leaned down, reaching a hand out, which Darcy kicked away. 

“Don’t touch it!” 

Maria, doing the only thing any of them really could do, kicked the tesseract away from the unconscious god’s fingers. 

“Why isn’t he moving?” Maria asked warily. 

“Can I touch  _ him?”  _ Jimmy asked, eyes flickering warily between the tesseract and Loki. 

Shrugging, Darcy nodded. “Sure.” 

Jimmy tentatively slipped two fingers under the leather collar of Loki’s tunic, feeling for a pulse. 

“Well, he’s alive.” 

Maria stepped away from them then, a radio held up to her mouth. “We’ve got him.” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have this fic on an official schedule now, yay! It will update every other Monday, barring anything wild keeping me from it. [You can follow me on twitter for any updates!](https://twitter.com/AlodiaThaliel)

It was chaos then, and not just because they were dealing with the chaotic trickster god. 

In short order, they were surrounded by agents from every single specialty bureau with guns in hand and walkie-talkies blaring. Heavy handcuffs were slapped over Loki’s wrists, and they hauled him up onto a stretcher. Darcy thought he might wake up then, but he remained unconscious the entire time. 

What happened to him? 

The last anyone had seen of Loki on Earth, he’d been with Thor, in his custody. What was he doing back here, without Thor? Maria and Monica had tried calling the thunder god, the Avengers, but no one could reach him. 

Also where the fuck had the tesseract come from? 

Maria watched it warily, her personal experience with it making her absolutely terrified. She didn’t  _ say  _ she was scared, but Darcy could tell. She had that people sense. 

She followed the stretcher into the field station they had set up, her EMF in hand. The measures remained remarkably consistent. They didn’t spike again the way they had when he’d appeared, but they were still  _ very  _ elevated from what they should be. It was like Loki was a little chunk of the big bang, passed out right in front of him. 

“Does that make him, what? Dark matter?” Jimmy asked. 

Darcy shrugged, “Kinda?” 

“Huh.” 

Maria scoffed, “Whatever it is, I don’t trust it.” 

Laughing Jimmy told her, “That’s only smart.” 

Sighing, Maria stepped away from the table, and told them, “I need to call Monica. Stay here, ping me if his status changes.” 

“Like if he wakes up and tries to stab us?” Darcy asked. 

“Yes, like that.” 

Maria didn’t smile, but Darcy knew she was amused. Probably. 

Maria was already on the phone, walking away, leaving Jimmy and Darcy to observe the trickster. A team of scientists and doctors rotated around him, one of them hooking him into an IV, another standing over his head and attaching electrodes to his temples, and the last was assessing him physically, pulling off his shoes and peeling back his clothes. 

“Why are they undressing him?” Darcy whispered to Jimmy. 

“They’re looking for injuries,” he explained. “We don’t know where he came from, he could be pretty messed up, for all we know.” 

“Messed up? From what?” 

“From falling through space-time or whatever,” he said. “You’re the scientist, wouldn’t you know better than me?” 

“Well!” He had a good point. “Do they have to strip him though??” 

The doctor’s eyes were fixed intently on Loki’s skin, gently prodding for broken bones and searching for cuts or bruises. They tore off clothes as they went, placing them in a pile on a table behind them. They treated the clothes with care, no doubt so they could scan the large overcoat and black linen undershirt later. Once his coat was off, they strapped his arms into a different, heavier set of metal restraints than the ones he had on before. 

This pair was welded into the table he was on top of, which was anchored into the floor with heavy metal bolts the size of golf balls. 

“Yes, Darcy. They do.” 

She huffed, and then her eyes widened as they started pulling down his pants. “Good lord!” 

“What? Are you shy?” Jimmy laughed. 

Darcy looked away before the pants made it more than an inch down, and fixed her eyes on her EMF reader. She heard the sound of another pair of restraints, likely closing around his legs. 

“No, but good god, the man is passed out. Is this necessary?” 

“Yes,” one of the doctors said. “Why are you two here?” 

“We’re with Maria,” Jimmy said. “And Monica.” 

One of the other doctors scoffed, “Nerds.” 

Darcy’s mouth dropped open, “Excuse me?” 

“Hey,” Jimmy grouched. “Who’s calling who a nerd? You’re the one feeling up an unconscious god for broken bones.” 

The doctor rolled their eyes, and turned back to Loki. “He doesn’t seem to have any. We’ll keep him locked down here, you two can call us if he wakes up.” 

“That’s it?” Darcy asked. “Are you sure those cuffs will hold him?” 

“They’re vibranium,” Jimmy explained. “They’ll hold.” 

“Well, why do they have to leave them! Just because they’re butt-hurt?” 

“Look, we’re not specialists in superheroes. For now—” 

They were cut off, when Loki’s eyes popped open, and he tried to pull against the restraints. He didn’t say anything, but his eyes flew around the room and he snarled. The doctors jumped back, their hands up in the air and their eyes wide.

“Oh for christ’s sake,” Jimmy swore. 

Loki frowned at him and asked, “Who the hell are you?” 

Jimmy sighed, and then pulled out his badge, holding it in front of Loki’s face so he could see it. “Jimmy Woo. Agent Woo, if you please. You’re in a secured facility in Indiana.” 

“Indiana?” 

“Yeah, you know. The state. On Earth?” 

The god’s dark head thunked back on the table, and he looked at the ceiling.  _ “Earth.”  _

“Yes, Earth.” Jimmy affirmed. 

“Miserable planet,” Loki commented. “Of course I would still be stuck here.” 

“Were you trying to leave?” 

One of the doctors stepped forward, “Agent Woo. We need to assess the patient.” 

“Like hell you will,” Loki snapped. “Don’t come near me.” 

“We need to check your vitals, blood pressure—” 

“I assure you, I could kill you and everyone in this room. I’m  _ perfectly  _ healthy. There was no need to stick me with these  _ things.”  _ He looked down at his IV. “Barbaric. You humans really don’t know anything about science, do you?” 

The doctor bristled, but Jimmy held up a hand. “I think you’d better go.” 

“Oh look, the  _ Agent  _ is speaking. You’d better listen  _ doctor,”  _ the god sneered. 

Goodness, he really was full of venom. 

The doctor sniffed, and Jimmy sighed, “Go, doctors. We promise, if something happens, we’ll call.” 

“Fine,” the doctor said. “Come on, guys. Let’s go run the labs we can, at least.” 

The other two nodded, and the three of them departed. 

Loki’s eyes were on Jimmy, and they flicked to Darcy suspiciously, and then back to Jimmy. “Agent Woo, was it?” 

“Yes. You can call me Jimmy.” 

“I won’t.” Loki said. “Release me, immediately.” 

“No can do,” Jimmy said. 

“Release me, and I won’t kill you as soon as I break out of here myself,” the god tried. 

Jimmu sighed,  _ loudly.  _ “Look, you can’t threaten me. I’ve seen some shit, Asgard man, and you don’t scare me.” He looked over at Darcy, “Watch him. I’m going to make some more calls.” 

“Okie dokie,” Darcy chirped. 

She didn’t feel chirpy, but it never paid to seem like a chicken. Vibranium should hold him in place, and if it didn't... Well, Darcy figured it wouldn’t matter if she was alone or not. Loki would do as he would. 

They both watched Jimmy depart, leaving them alone together. 

Darcy delayed looking at the god for as long as possible. 

“Who are you?” Loki snarled.

She winced, and then finally looked at him. 

“I’m Darcy. Lewis.” 

“Why are you here?” 

“Well, no one trusts you to behave, and since no one can reach your brother, they want me to watch over you. For some reason.” 

“Why  _ you?”  _

“Because, frankly, you hurt everyone else’s feelings.” 

“But not yours?” 

“Nope. I’m immune to you.” 

“I haven’t had enough opportunity yet,” he told her. 

“Well, do your best.” 

It was only a small fib. Jimmy was probably fine, but those doctors  _ were  _ touchy. 

He frowned at her, “Why are you really here?” 

“Do you want me to leave?” 

“Yes. And free me before you do so.” 

“Sorry, no can do buddy. If there’s one thing I know about you, it’s that freeing you is a  _ very  _ bad idea.” 

He laughed, “I destroyed one city, and suddenly you can’t trust me?” 

“Well, it took a long time to clean up,” Darcy huffed. “You left a lot of alien guts and stuff around. Honestly, from what I saw? It was pretty gross.” 

For a brief moment, his face flashed with something. Doubt? Confusion? The emotion was quickly smothered with haughty indifference. 

“I am sure you managed to get your precious New York cleaned up quite nicely.” 

“We did,” Darcy informed him, watching his face carefully. “Took us almost a decade, but I think it’s basically all done now.” 

He blinked long and slow, “A decade?” 

“I’m sure it doesn’t seem that long to you, being immortal and all, but it’s a long time for us.” 

“Right,” he snapped. “Of course. A decade is little more than a blink.”

“Right,” Darcy agreed, smiling. 

He pulled at his restraints experimentally. “Vibranium?” 

“Eyup!” She told him. “Only the best.” 

“Hm.” He frowned down at his wrists, and then down at his torso. “And they had to take my clothes?” 

Darcy let her eyes flicker over his chest, and then back up to his face, “Not my decision.” 

He had a nice chest. And abs. Must run in the family. 

He  _ loudly  _ rolled his eyes at her and then asked, “No one can find Thor?” 

“Asgardians don’t carry cell phones,” she reminded him. “Unless you guys are hiding some kind of space phone from us?” 

“No.” 

“Welp, there you have it,” she said. “I’m sure they’ll reach him soon.” 

“Perhaps,” he muttered. 

Not keen to make him think she was too interested in whatever it was he was hiding, Darcy looked down at her nails. She knew exactly how to deal with people like Loki. Probably. In theory. I mean, it couldn’t hurt to  _ pretend  _ like she did, right? 

Loki didn’t expound, and Darcy leaned back against a stainless steel counter. 

This whole thing was strange, and over and over again, she kept seeing those flashes of confusion on Loki’s face. Maybe… 

“Hey,” she said casually, “What year do you think it is?” 

She watched Loki’s eyes widen, and then narrow and harden. “You think I use your human years?” 

_ Hah! Caught him!  _

Loki totally didn’t know what year it was. Before she could accuse him of it, or ask him any other questions, Jimmy walked back into the room, his eyes wide. 

“Yo, Darcy, I need to speak to you.” He said. 

“Yeah? What’s up?” She asked. 

Jimmy glanced at Loki, and then back at Darcy, “Well. We got a hold of Thor.” 

“Oh? Good. How’s the big guy doing?” 

“He wants to talk to you,” he said. 

“Oh, how special, the god of thunder wants to talk to you,” Loki snipped. 

“Duh,” Darcy said. “He’s my friend. Not that you’d know.” 

“How—” 

“Thor said he’s dead,” Jimmy blurted out. 

“What?!” Darcy asked. 

“What?!” Loki cried. The trickster thrashed at the restraints. “Release me! I don’t know what you’re after here, but I want no part of it! I’m very clearly  _ alive. _ ” 

“Well, not according to Thor you’re not!” Jimmy told him. 

Darcy glanced at Jimmy, and then back at Loki.

“Who  _ are  _ you?” Darcy asked. 

He looked at her, lips curled back, “I’m  _ Loki.  _ God of Mischief, Foe of the Gods, The Bound God, and you  _ will  _ release me!” 

“No can do, buddy, we’re transporting you to a cell somewhere until we can figure out who you really are.” 

“I don’t know what game you’re playing,” the supposed Loki said, “But this is low. Even for you humans. I’m very clearly alive.” 

“Oh I dunno buddy,” Darcy told him. “Thanos kinda fucked everything up. For all we know, you could be some weird remnant of the Blip.” 

Loki paled, “Thanos? How… What are you talking about? How do you know that name?” 

“Are you ok, man? I mean… The Blip was pretty universal. You can’t tell me you didn’t notice it? I mean, come on? Half the universe disappeared. Kinda hard to not notice it.” 

Confusion and then anger came over Loki all at once. 

The room around them began to shake, and Loki looked  _ furious.  _ Jimmy ran to where Darcy was, the two of them huddling together, eyes darting around the room trying to make sense of things. A green and red shift seemed to be emanating from every surface, like looking at some strange old 3D movie without glasses. 

Everything was wonky and wrong, except for the vibranium that kept him bound to the table. 

The shift grew larger and larger, making it hard to see. Loki’s eyes were two bright green spots in the middle of it all. Darcy was frozen, unsure what to do in the face of such a display of power. She couldn’t take her eyes away from the beautifully furious green eyes, and she watched as the vibranium binding him to the table began to shift too. 

Vibranium, being what it was, was remarkably resistant to magic, but it wasn’t infinitely so. Slower than the rest of the room, it began to vibrate and turn green, a high-pitched ring filling the room and drowning out all other sounds. 

“We need to leave!” Jimmy shouted right into Darcy’s ear. 

Darcy nodded at him furiously, but walking was near impossible. The magic pouring out of Loki was holding them in place as he struggled against the bonds. 

This wasn’t like him, not from what Darcy knew, but something about Thanos must have set Loki off. Or maybe it was Thor thinking he was dead. 

Honestly? It didn’t matter at that moment. What did matter was getting away from his meltdown, away from whatever dangerous magic he was using. 

They managed to take one step together before  _ another  _ strange light filled the room. 

Darcy knew this light and almost fell over with relief. It was the Bifrost. 

Rainbow lights shimmered in the room, and then disappeared. Jimmy and Darcy looked up at the huge man who appeared among them. Thor, looking just as angry as Loki, had arrived. 

Darcy shouted, “Hey! Big dude! Mind helping us?!” 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy update Monday! Thank you guys so much for the kind comments, kudos, bookmarks, and subs on this fic! I so appreciate all of the support! 
> 
> I hope y'all enjoyed the WandaVision finale, and are looking forward to the Loki show! In the mean time, please accept this fic to tide you over. XD

Thor took a second to scan the room, Stormbreaker in hand, and then whirled, eyes locked on Loki. 

“Who are you?!” The god rumbled. 

Loki’s eyes widened, looking at Strombreaker, then Thor’s hair, and then at the god. He looked… well. Confused. Then, he looked angry all over again, waves of magic sluicing off of him. 

Darcy had always been on the fence about the whole ‘god’ thing. Afterall, what separated a god from someone like Captain Marvel? Or Doctor Strange? 

But now, seeing this? It was obvious what separated them. 

Their power came from somewhere else, something else. It charged the air and rumbled around them bottomlessly. Thor rumbled with all the untamed fury of lightning, and Loki matched him equally, all chaos and determination. 

It made Darcy’s hair stand on end. 

“I’m your brother, you nitwit!” Loki shouted. 

If it wasn’t so dangerous, it would be hilarious to see a god in nothing but his underwear, strapped to a table, yelling at his brother. 

But the reality was terrifying. Loki was a wild animal backed into a corner, lacking out at anyone who got too close. 

“Loki is dead!” Thor proclaimed. “I watched Thanos kill him. You are  _ not  _ my brother.” 

“Like hell! I’m not dead!” Loki raged, straining against the vibranium. 

A crack appeared at the cuff around his right wrist. 

Thor didn’t seem to notice. In fact, he seemed completely immune to the magic Loki that was emanating. Perhaps because he was so used to it? 

“Thor!” Darcy shouted. “Thor!!” 

He ignored her. Jimmy looked at Darcy with wild eyes, and then sprung into action when a crack appeared around one of Loki’s ankles. Yanking on her arm, he dragged her behind one of the heavy metal counters that, thankfully, hadn’t moved yet. A second before her dark head dipped behind it, she saw one of Loki’s arms pull free. 

A large purple, magical whoosh of energy swept over Darcy and Jimmy, knocking them firmly onto their asses. 

“I watched Thanos kill you!” Thor raged. “Whatever demon you are, I’m going to kill you for this.” 

Wow. That was aggressive. Darcy had never heard Thor talk like that before. 

Also Loki was dead? Since when? Thor had said it more than once now, so it had to be true.

His death was news. 

Thor had disappeared for some time after Malekith was defeated, came back when Thanos invaded and then disappeared altogether again after the battle in Wakanda. It wasn’t really public knowledge what he’d been up to in that time, and the news that Loki had died somewhere in those gaps was  _ huge.  _ Like, world shatteringly huge. Why hadn’t he told anyone?

Perhaps Thor couldn’t stand the idea of people celebrating the trickster’s death. Loki had hurt a lot of people in New York, there weren’t many people who would mourn Loki’s death along with Thor. 

But if Loki  _ was  _ dead, then who the hell was the guy they’d strapped to the table? 

Suddenly Darcy was a lot more afraid than she had been a minute ago. 

Shit, what were they going to do? 

Thor hefted Stormbreaker in his hand, lunging towards the… Not Loki? 

Loki snarled, blocking the axe with a flash of magic, “How do you know that name?” 

Thor glared at him, voice dangerous. “You make a poor Loki. Don’t get into acting.” 

Thor hurled his axe at ‘Loki’ again, the trickster swerving to the side to avoid it. He whirled and struck out at Thor’s legs, trying to throw him off balance. 

“I’m not acting, you oaf! How do you know about Thanos?” Loki claimed. 

_ What?  _ That was just… if this was someone pretending to be Loki, they would know better than to pretend like Thor shouldn’t know Thanos.  _ The entire universe  _ knew who Thanos was. Something wasn’t adding up here. 

Darcy watched from behind the counter as Thor punched Loki, hitting him square in the jaw. 

“You know how I know him! He  _ killed  _ you!” Thor roared. 

Oh shit. Thanos had killed Loki?! But he couldn’t have been part of the Blip, or he would have come back with everyone else. Thanos had  _ murdered  _ Loki. 

So really then, who was this guy? 

“What?!” Loki reeled back with the punch, and then retaliated, socking Thor in the gut. “I’m  _ obviously  _ not dead!” 

“Yes!” Thor swung at Loki again, “You are!”

“How did Thanos kill me then, hm?” 

“That’s not your concern,” Thor told him, swinging Stormbreaker sideways, aiming for his liver. 

Loki jumped, clearing the swing easily. “I think it is, considering it’s me he assumedly killed.” 

Loki held one hand out, palm facing Thor, and a bit of green and purple magic hit the god of thunder in the chest, staggering him. 

“Hah,” Loki gloated. He looked down at Stormbreaker, “Where’s Mjolnir?” 

The question absolutely incensed Thor, “ENOUGH! You are not my brother, and all your questions only prove that! Loki knew  _ exactly  _ what happened to Mjolnir.” 

Loki looked down at the axe, and then at his brother, seeming to realize something. 

“Thor, wait!” 

Thor didn't listen, he lunged again 

Loki put up a barrier, blocking a few hits from the axe. 

“Thor,” he begged. “Stop! I know what happened. I  _ am  _ Loki. It was the Tesseract!”

The Tesseract? 

Oh my god. It came to Darcy in a flash. From what she’d been able to gather, the Space Stone had been housed inside of the Tesseract before being broken out of it’s contained. But she knew the stones were destroyed when Tony Stark died, S.W.O.R.D. had been a part of the operation ensuring that they were really gone for good. 

If Loki, this Loki, had the Tesseract, it couldn’t be the Space Stone from  _ this  _ universe. 

A Space Stone could probably piggyback on small holes in the membrane and open an honest to god wormhole, and perhaps… 

This Loki  _ was  _ Loki, but from a different universe. 

“Holy shit!” Darcy yelled. 

Thor looked at her, and then back at Loki. “Stay back, Darcy Lewis!” 

“Thor!!” She waved her hands wildly, “Wait!” 

It took effort to push back against the magic surrounding them both, but Dary managed to pull away from Jimmy and walk towards the battling gods. Thor swung at Loki with Stormbreaker, the great axe glinting in the strange lights, sparks flying off of its blade where it collided with Loki’s barriers. 

Jimmy popped up from behind the counter, squinting against the waves of magic still coming off of Loki. “Darcy, don’t do that! Are you crazy?” 

She waved a hand at him, “Jimmy! Get back down!” 

“No!” He yelled. 

He began to follow her, and together they approached Loki and Thor. 

Loki hadn’t paid attention to her approach, he was watching Thor warily, waiting for the next hit. 

“Brother! Stop this! Let me explain!” 

“There’s nothing to explain!” Thor yelled. “I’ll end your lies.” 

“Thor!” Darcy shouted. “Wait! I think I know what happened?” 

“Darcy,  _ get back!”  _ He roared, swinging at Loki again. 

Neither of them spared her a glance. 

“Guys!” She yelled. 

“Darcy!” Jimmy said, “This is a bad idea! We gotta get out of here!” 

Thor roared, Stormbreaker whirling around his head as he went to bring it down on Loki again. Loki stepped back, throwing his hands up, a magical shield in front of him. 

“No!” She said.

Was he probably right? Yes. But Darcy wasn’t about to let the first potential interdimensional traveler she’d come across to get pummeled by his brother from another timeline. 

Rashly, and probably stupidly, she jumped right into the middle of the fight. 

Thor’s eyes went wide, and Loki seemed to freeze in place. 

Thor didn’t freeze though, his Axe was mid-swing and continued to fly downwards towards her. 

“Fuck,” Loki swore. He took a step forward, his arms come up on either side of her head, a shimmering barrier appearing just over her, stopping Stormbreaker. 

Thor visibly sighed, and then glared at Darcy. 

“Move, Darcy.” 

“Wait—” she tried to explain. 

Before she could try and explain why she had done this incredibly risky thing, Loki pulled her back. His hand went to her neck, coming in close. Her back was flush against his front, as he laughed. 

“Well, well, brother. Seems like I’ve gained the upper hand. Now, let me out of here, or Darcy dies.” 


End file.
